Give it a try, but for me it fell short

Things I liked:
-Loved the relationship between ML and his two ghost partners. Yoo In Soo as Sung Ho and Eum Moon Suk as Nam Goo were both very good. There was quite a bit of humor when these three were involved.
-FL's friend the attorney that climbed up the hill to her office. I LOVED the yellow suit she was wearing.
-The way they styled ML. Loved the color of his hair, it set him apart. I also loved the clothes they put him in, loose, comfortable clothes.
-2FL storyline (for the most part).
-I liked the cameos.

On the other side of the coin:
-ML and FL had no chemistry, as far as I was concerned. The whole thing seemed kind of forced to me. However, they didn't have the cliche misunderstanding breakup.
-Some of the filming was extremely dark. If you aren't in a dark room when you watch it, you'll miss stuff.
-I didn't like the character of the FL at all. I don't care for forward women, and she just couldn't get the hint.
-Continuity issues - they are drinking in the park at night, and suddenly when they are walking home it's daytime.
-I felt that this show suffered from too many episodes. There was a lot of wasted time.
-The cop ghost - didn't like the ending of his story, or his lack of resolution with his wife.
-The 2FL and the office ghost in a relationship? Please, that was just too ridiculous.
-Though it was a happy ending, I was pretty disappointed in the show once I finished it.

Leia Mais

Not nearly as good as season one

I was tremendously disappointed in Season 2 of Stranger. The friendships that had been developed in Season 1 were gone as if they never existed. Now, the police and the prosecution were at odds about everything. I SO missed Shi Mok and Yeo Jin solving crimes together.

And this is just my personal opinion, but there were just too many corrupt people! It seemed like it was everyone other than Shi Mok and Yeo Jin! In a move to make the majority of the people in the show corrupt, they had to create multiple convoluted cases, most of which I didn't care about. Everything was too long and drawn out.

I also didn't care for the ending, too open for me, without adequate consequences for a few of the people.

However, I will say, it was worth watching the second season if only for Shi Mok's smile at the end!

Leia Mais

what did it want to be?

I'll preface my review by stating the obvious, in the hopes that no one gets hateful, this is just my personal opinion. Please take it or leave it alone, agree or disagree, but please respect the opinions of others (and I'm kind of irritated that I even have to say this).

There was a lot to like about this show:
Acting. Everyone was really good. Park Eun Bin as Mok Ha was wonderful. I think there were certain mannerisms that we saw that she displayed in Extraordinary Attorney Woo and I think are just part of her DNA, because I've seen them in other shows of hers. However, they absolutely worked here. She was charming and likeable, driven, yet devoted to those she loved. All of the other actors were excellent as well. I especially loved the younger actors, they were the standouts for me. Also, Kim Joo Heon playing a morally gray character, and both Lee Seung Joon as Ki Ho's father and Lee Yoo Joon as Mok Ha's father were surprising. We are so used to seeing them in the role of good guys, their transformations were amazing.

Music. As you'd expect, the OST was wonderful. Eun Bin's voice is sublime. I could literally listen to her all day.

My problem came in with the writing and the way the story was put together. On the surface, or maybe because of the trailers, this was an original premise, with strong possibilities of feeling all the feels. My struggle was this drama couldn't decide if it wanted to be a romance, a drama, a comedy, light or dark. For me, the extremes were too great. I wasn't expecting it to be fluffy, but the darkness was too dark for the rest of the drama, and the flipping back and forth wasn't allowing me to flow with the story. I didn't feel that there was enough of her on the island (a whole episode would have been nice) and the whole thing just seemed too implausible - she was that close to civilization all that time? Then, her reintegration was just too easy. First of all, the voice is a muscle. She would have needed to get used to using her voice again. Add to that, her early life was just trauma. So, she's traumatized as a child and then has the trauma of having been on an island by herself for 15 years, but she comes home and there appear to be no after-effects, just that she's glad to be back home and she immediately gets back on the track of wanting to meet her idol. It would have been so much better if we'd been able to see/feel her struggles with reassimilating into society -- that would have really improved the flow and made it more realistic.

I'd say, if you've actually read this far and are wondering whether to give this show a try, you should, definitely. Just because I'm one of the few outlier people that didn't fall in love with it, you may (and probably will) have a different reaction to it.

Leia Mais

Maybe I'm jaded?

For me, this was one of the worst shows ever. One of those dramas that at the end I'm mad at, because I'll never get the time I wasted back. Perhaps I might have felt differently if I had watched it when it was first released, and I was new to K-dramas. However, after having seen dramas done very well, this was hard for me to watch. I have to cut it a little slack because it is old - the production value was seriously lacking, and I think there have been developments in film value, etc.

I thought this drama was extremely slow and drawn out. The overused "misunderstanding" trope went on entirely too long. Romance was lacking, seriously. And can someone please slap whoever was in charge of the costuming? The worst.

I'll give my usual disclaimer, since I appear to seriously be in the minority. These opinions are just mine and you might enjoy it, but you will really have to get past the fact that it hasn't aged well.

Leia Mais

Just why!?!?!

To me (and it's just my opinion), this was trying to be some kind of deep art film, full of symbolism, hoping that there would be in-depth discussions about the characters and their lives. I don't want to talk about these characters, and if I can manage, I don't want to ever think about these characters again.

There is slice-of-life, and then there's time-I'll-never-get-back. This fell firmly in the latter. I could have been rearranging my sock drawer, or having a root canal and it would have been time better spent. It was soooo slow! Everyone appeared to be depressed, and they were trying really hard to ensure that I felt the same way.

Positives? Portugal. Lovely, lovely place. Seo Kang Joon - I love him, but even he wasn't reward enough for me to spend my time on this. I did love the geeky younger version of him.

I have to say that I never was able to relate to or feel for the FL. I didn't think she was a very nice person, and boy, she loved to live in her misery. When I FINALLY got to the end of this drama, I was so glad it was over. I liked the secondary couples, but the misery and depression of the years wasted by the leads overshadowed any enjoyment I might have had in the show.

SPOILERS!!
Then, (now I'm on a rant) they met, dated, broke up, dated, multiple times over a 12-year period. She married someone else, and he was engaged to someone else, and after ALL THAT no one ends up with anyone! I never saw why he liked her in the first place, and was their attraction just physical? Because they had absolutely nothing in common, they were constantly disagreeing, constantly breaking up, constantly yearning for the other. At some point in time, some serious counseling would have come in handy. And the way the drama ends, I felt like they were in a continuous spiral and would keep up the same make up/break up routine. So tiring!

Leia Mais

Too much going on, but really ultimately, not much is completely fleshed out

I’ll start with what I liked:
The acting, in general was very good.
Jung Hyung Ho as Chi Yeol, the man knows how to play quirky but still vulnerable.
Oh Eui Shik as Hae Woo, Haeng Seon’s brother. Eui Shik tends to play kind of over-the-top characters and I thought he did a wonderful job reigning himself in for this role. I found it very believable.
Shin Jae Ha as Ji Dong Hee, Chi Yeol’s secretary. Wow, he had a fantastic character arc.
The teen’s story line – slight romance, triangle, developing friendships.
The show was pretty good until about episode 10-11. Nothing fantastic, but somewhat enjoyable.
What I didn’t like:
SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!
Terrible name for the show. I’m sorry, if the words “Romance” or “Love” are in the title, that should be where the focus is. It was not the case at all here.
Jeon Do Yeen as Haeng Seon. This actress was very poorly cast for the age she was supposed to represent. She was MUCH older than they talked about her being at the beginning of the show, and I just laughed when multiple people said she looked too young to have a teenage daughter. She looked a lot older than all the other moms.
Why did they dress her like a grandmother?!? She had the most awful wardrobe I’ve seen in a while and everything made her look even older.
Lack of chemistry between the leads. Why did they like each other? The writers told us they were supposed to like each other, but I certainly didn’t feel it at all.
Then there was the over-abundance of story lines-
Despicable, power hungry, gossiping moms – every one of them, other than Haeng Seon. I guess that was to make her look good, but how many terrible moms do you need in one place?
The pressure on the kids to excel. I understand that’s a thing, but though it was pretty much a main focus of the drama, there was no positive resolution in sight. Then to have the teachers blame everything on the fact that the kids are drinking power drinks and eating sugar.
Student Suh Ah. I get that her mother pretty much made her the way she was, but she was over the edge, having hallucinations, anger issues, etc. and seriously needed counseling, and then suddenly at the end of the show she’s going to med school!?!?!
Ji Dong Hee’s storyline – I loved his portrayal but was so disappointed in the direction they took him and the total cop-out with the suicide. I was also disappointed in the fact that they didn’t address the trauma that Chi Yeol MUST have experienced to be betrayed like that. He had an eating disorder because of prior trauma, but this whole thing was just glossed over. They could have done a good job of addressing this without all the extra people showing up.
Haeng Seon’s niece’s kidnapping – again a traumatic experience that was just glossed over.
Haeng Seon’s brother and her best friend – just no. It was thrown in at the end like they needed to fill some time. It was off-putting and fake.
The real mom coming back – again, filler. She was a terrible person and we already suffered through a bunch of episodes with OTHER terrible people! She left a bad taste in my mouth (which was probably the writer’s intention, but it was pointless)
I didn’t really feel that the mom’s learned much through what they put everyone through, especially the lawyer mom. She was a liar, a cheater, she treated her kids terrible and then made her son sound like a nutjob to get him out of jail, when she actually thought he was guilty.
Then there was an ex that showed up for three minutes in the last episode, just long enough to start rampant rumors.
Two-year time jump. PLEASE, this is used all the time, but it got on my nerves here, a lot. Haeng Seon has tried multiple times to get her physical fitness certification and failed. What’s the deal, does she not study, are the writers intimating that she’s stupid? I don’t know. Then, I hated the lack of closure/end for the teen couple. He asked her over two years ago if she would go out with him. He’s waited all this time and then she just gives him a peck on the cheek and walks off?!?!?

I realize that a lot of people enjoyed this show, but for me it was over-scheduled and under-developed.

Leia Mais

Thank you writers!

Chinese dramas aren't usually my "go to" because of their length. For me, most of the 20-40 episode dramas are mostly filler. This one was right up my alley! It was the perfect length, and the story didn't suffer from the brevity at all. I'm not normally a fan of noona romance, but this one was cute, and there were some good comedic moments associated with it.

So much to like:
Destiny trope - I'm a sucker for it, I'll be honest. What he said about waiting five years, that really got to me.
No triangles.
No evil SFL (I've noticed it's almost always SFL as opposed to SML)
No evil parents trying to split them up (loved her dad!)
The dubbing was toned town and not nearly as irritating as usual.
Strong FL - Lu Yan Qi as Rong Rong was so refreshing. I'd say she was assertive rather than aggressive. She was a powerful business woman but not a b*tch. She displayed a lot of vulnerability. Yan Qi is seriously beautiful, and she has the perfect lips for all the times she's asking him to kiss her.
Wonderful ML - loved Yang Ze as Cong Bei. Handsome and youthful, which played into the noona aspect of the drama. He had a lot of good micro-expressions that displayed how he was feeling. I do, however, wonder what he was going to do with his life. That wasn't really addressed.
No big misunderstandings. There were a couple of places where things went awry in their lives, but they talked about things and resolved them. I really liked how they believed in one another, when others were feeding them lies.
2ML - normally I'm not a big fan of facial hair on Asian men, it can often look so sparse, like they are trying too hard for a beard. I loved his beard and his long hair. SPOILER!!!! This is the first time I think I've ever felt sympathetic toward an antagonist. I actually loved this character (especially with Jing Jing) and was so sorry that they couldn't make that guy that was hanging around him the villain so the 2ML could get a happy ending. END OF SPOILER.
2FL - Guo Jiu Yu as Jing Jing - here is where most of the comedy relief came in. She was such a sweet character but was an accident waiting to happen whenever she was in the 2ML's sphere. The two of them were cute together.
No time skip at the end!

My biggest hope, upon watching this drama, is that C-drama writers will start to see that the shows can deliver the same feels, yet be tighter and more concise, without all the unnecessary filler.

I really enjoyed Destined to Meet You.

Leia Mais

I was a nervous wreck watching this!

I came for Gong Yoo, I'll be honest. I do have to say that this movie was very well done. I hated the ending, but, for me, if it's not a totally happy ending, I'm never satisfied. I do understand why it ended the way it did, and it was effective, but it was disappointing for me.

We got to see just enough of everyone's back story to develop opinions and/or feelings about each character. You have the heroes that step up in a pinch, as well as those that, in a life-threatening situation, become even more selfish, caring only about their own safety. You also get to see some people come to the realization about that is important in life, albeit too late.

The zombies were different than in other shows/movies I've seen about zombies. In the first place, these things were freaking fast! That dialed up the tension level considerably, then you'd see a zombie running along with his body all out of alignment, with his arm broken behind his head or something, and you just have to laugh - good way to release some of that pent up tension.

The special effects were very good. I'm not expert, but there weren't any times that something was completely fake looking (okay, zombies, I know, aren't real - but they COULD be!)

Music - to be honest, I don't remember hearing any music, just lots of grunting and screaming.

Rewatch value - I don't think I'd need to watch this again, it wouldn't have the same shock/fear factor. One time was enough, but it was a heck of a ride!

Leia Mais

Where's the communication!?!?

So, Chinese dramas are notoriously long. They tend to spread out over many more episodes than they need to, with some episodes being no more than filler. That's a big complaint of mine. However, that said, if I have to fast forward through a lot of stuff to get to the meat of the story, I will do so. I might rate lower because of all my wasted time, but not always. There were a few things in this show that I found problematic and ultimately unforgivable.

Wasted time/scenes/episodes
No chemistry between leads
Leaving for no apparent reason for years. I find this trope so maddening, because in this day and age, with everyone walking around with a phone in their hand, that someone could leave for five years is just irritating. First, them not having contact with one another for years completely negates all the stuff we had to watch to get them together. If you can leave without a word, you aren't really in love.
But the biggest thing for me - you have a child with this man and don't tell him?!?! That is unforgivable! I'll admit that the prudish side of me started watching Asian dramas because they were more pure than American TV. I got tired of the going to bed with one another without a commitment. Sadly, so many Asian dramas are jumping on the premarital sex bandwagon. I can deal with that, but there is absolutely no excuse for keeping a child from his father and vice versa. That was the kiss of death for me, as far as this drama was concerned.

Leia Mais

Well worth your time!

Are you looking for a sweet romance that is well-written, there aren't random misunderstandings, and that you will find yourself smiling like a fool? If so, this is right up your alley. Full disclosure here, I'm all about the romance. The people getting to know one another, the build-up, being able to see why the couple likes each other, good kisses (no open-eye, fish kisses, thank you very much!). This show had all of this, plus the advantage of multiple couples, each of them cute in their own way, and each character was so likeable. Actually, now that I think about it, this show was full of extremely likeable characters, which is one of the reasons it was so much fun. There were even a couple of characters that were played a little over-the-top and I liked them as well. While watching this, I found myself thinking about how much fun I was having. Seriously.

The only downside for me, was the sudden turn into melodrama-land, with multiple melodrama storylines. That's what I scored down for, it really ruined the flow. I think the subject matter of a couple of the storylines was timely, and probably a good storyline to delve into more fully, but here it just felt like it was all thrown in to make up the obligatory 16 episodes. They would have been better served to cut it down to 12 and have it be a straight, well-written rom-com.

I really enjoyed each of the actors, but I need to call out the mains.
Lee Sung Kyung as Oh Han Byul - LOVE her! I've seen her in multiple things, and I've always enjoyed her. To be perfectly honest, I didn't realize it was her until I recognized her voice, she looks so different. She played the characters of Han Byul as likeable, driven, and really good at a thankless job. That had the potential to make her look like she was perfect, but really you just want to be friends with her.
Kim Young Dae as Gong Tae Sung. I thought he was wonderful in this. He's got a very expressive face which was perfect for so much of the comedy that was going on. There were many, many times that I went back and re-watched scenes because his expressions/mannerisms were so good. He had his moments where I worried that he was a complete jerk, but he quickly redeemed himself. I LOVE when a man has liked a woman for a long time, and this show really shone a spotlight on that. It also showed how he never grew out of his "dunk her braid in the inkwell because you like her" phase. The things he did to try and get her attention just cracked me up. His love and care for Han Byul was lovely to watch, and if a man said some of the things to me that he said to her, I would melt into a puddle in the middle of the floor. It was very romantic. For example, he asked all of her friends for information about her, shoe size, MTBI, favorite foods, etc. He compiled a book with all this information, but yet when he talked to her about it, he just told her everything he had noticed about her on his own - her work ethic, how she supports others, etc. And when he called her "My Han Byeol", wow! Watching him be jealous was so funny, but his softened demeanor around her (his actions, his voice, the way he cared for her) was what grabbed me by the heart and wouldn't let go.

I also liked the friendships in this show. His manager, Jeong Yeol (what was with the haircut?) was supportive, and oh so helpful in trying to get the two leads together. The sismances were fun, and I absolutely loved the bromance between Tae Sung and his love rival, the lawyer (they became latte friends).

Finally, Kim Young Dae in beige linen pants toward the end of the show - yikes! Don't judge me, just watch it and you'll see what I'm talking about!!

Leia Mais

This show was fighting to find its direction

I re-watched this show for two reasons. I hadn't written a review previously, and I was hoping that upon second glance it would improve for me. Sadly that did not happen. This drama, for me, struggled to find a genre home - is it a rom-com? A drama? Slapstick? A Mystery? Since it didn't know what it wanted to be, I was having a hard time enjoying it. I certainly didn't feel it was a waste of time, by any means, but my enjoyment fell into "middle of the road" territory.

What I liked:
1) The kisses. The two main characters know how a kiss should look! And the kiss in the shower...my oh my.
2) The male lead. I love the way he was portrayed and I could relate to his struggles and feel empathy for him. There was definite growth in him as the show progressed.
3) The Silent Monster employees - quirky and funny, they also grew throughout the show, though at times it did seem forced, like the writers realized they were in episode and the characters were supposed to be acting a certain way.
4) Sweetness. There were quite a few really sweet scenes - the times the employees spent with the orphans, the male lead going to the barber shop all the time, the male lead dropping off plants at her house, and the ending scene was cute as well.

What I didn't particularly like:
1) Male lead's sister - get into some counseling, that's all I'll say.
2) Music - 3 songs repeated over and over, telling us when to feel what emotion.
3) "This is why we can't be together" - this was repeated so many times, each time a part of the mystery was revealed. Just when I thought that the issue had been resolved, they'd say that and then another part of the mystery was revealed. The mystery overall kind of bothered me. I felt like the plot was full of red herrings, and it was frustrating because it put a roadblock to the romance.
4) The makeup - this REALLY bothered me in this show! The skin tones for the two main leads seemed to change quite often, and in one kissing scene in particular, their coloring was so different that's all I could focus on. The lipstick was pronounced and obvious for the female lead, and for the other females, they failed to use lipstick on their whole lips...they just didn't paint the top part of their lips. Were they trying to make their lips look smaller? It was so strange, because their lip outline was so obvious! The two fathers - their makeup made them look like corpses - very white, pasty, shiny and plastic looking.

I felt that it was an okay show to watch if you are interested in a workplace romance, but I've seen it done better.

Leia Mais

Bucolic small town life

What I loved:
1) When the writing was shining a light on the ensemble cast, it was right on point. It did a wonderful job of developing the characters, allowing us to get to know and care about them. There was so much heart and humor in letting us feel what it's like to live in a small town, with its quirky characters, warts and all. To live in a place where everyone is all up in your business, but they've also got your back, made me long to be a part of their lives.
2) Overall cinematography. In general, beautifully filmed. The colors of the buildings, the boats in the harbor, long shots of the small town in the distance, combined to pull you into the drama.
3) Couple chemistry. So, I'm now going to have to call Kim Seon Ho and Shin Min Ah the Dimple Duo!! Theirs was a sweet relationship of growth and development. The relationship made sense and they were so flipping cute together. Their smiles just lit up the screen.
4) Kim Seon Ho as Hong Doo Shik. What a wonderful character, beautifully portrayed by Kim. His happiness was almost palpable, as was his despair. The love he had for his friends and neighbors was a joy to watch.
5) Kim Young Ok as Kim Gam Ri. I want her to be my grandma! I've loved her in everything I've seen her in. She was so sweet, but she had twinkle in her eye that said she was up to something.
6) Non-triangle love triangle. I love when there is a potential triangle and the secondary person actually wants their love interest to be happy - that's love rather than obsession.

What I didn't love:
1) The character of Yoon Hye-Jin. Shin Min Ah did an excellent job, but I didn't care for this character much at all. I hated her at the beginning, so much that I debated whether I was going to be able to continue the show. Thankfully, I stuck it out and her hard edges softened somewhat. I understand the reasoning for the way she was, but there still needs to be something at least a little likeable about a main character or what's the point? Later on, when she softened up a bit, she was better, but then she started acting all aegyo and that worked my last nerve.
2) Some jarring camera angles. There were a few times when the camera angle completely took me out of the story. I think they were trying to be clever, but it was unsuccessful.
3) The idol storyline. It was done strictly to bring in more characters and then not much was done with it.

I ended up rating this show a little higher than I thought I would, based on the last couple of episodes. I felt that the last episodes really showed the heart of the show. The importance of family and friends, and the impact they have on us. On forgiveness, for others and for ourselves.

Leia Mais

Slow, lovely drama

This drama made me think of lazy days curled up with a good book, which was appropriate because it was based on people that make books. I tend to love the stories that have to do with books, because Korean filmmakers always do such a good job of displaying and showcasing books. They incorporate books into the set design in such a special way. The publishing company that the people worked with was beautiful and each of the characters brought something special to the table.
WRITING: I thought the writing was good. There was some lagging toward the end of the show, mainly because there wasn't big conflict throughout the whole show. We got to see a lot of insights into the characters' daily lives, which I can understand might bore some people, but I loved learning more about each of the characters and what made them the way they were. The book analogies and references woven throughout the story were wonderful, and I loved the way the writers were saying that each of us is like a book and we're waiting for that special person to come along and take the time to read us and learn about us. The passion of the employees of the publishing company was a treat to see, they loved what they were creating, and getting one of their books published was such a terrific achievement, it could almost be equated with having a child. I loved the photos/pictures at the end of each episode that had captions giving voice to Dani-i and Eun Ho's thoughts of each other.
ACTING: Lee Jong Suk (as Cha Eun Ho) was, as always excellent. His look and his voice were perfect for this role. He was a stalwart friend and had hidden feelings that he was afraid to voice. There were a lot of times in the drama that he was doing voice-over work, and he's got the absolute best voice for it. His character was calm and gentle. He cries beautifully. Lee Na Young (as Kang Dan-i) was good as well. I'd have to say it took me some time to warm up to her character, because she was a hot mess. Actually, all of the actors were very good and this felt more like an ensemble show because of the screen time that everyone got.
OST: Beautiful music interwoven throughout.
CINEMATOGRAPHY/COSTUMING: Beautifully filmed. I thought the scenes toward the end of the drama, when two of the main characters were standing by a lake, were especially well done. Both of them in well-fitting black clothes against the darkness of the water and the brown/fall tones of the trees surrounding the lake - very effective for the mood being created at the time. Lee Jong Suk knows how to wear clothes, that's for sure. The costume designers did a good job with wardrobe in this drama, except for the ridiculous pink, red, and gray camouflage trench coat that Jong Suk wore - it was very distracting.
CHEMISTRY: The main couple were cute together, but I'd say that the chemistry for them was more like old friends than anything else. They had a couple of good kisses and a sexual relationship was implied. I just loved the chemistry between all the actors when they were working together.
REWATCH: I must admit that I watched it three times before reviewing it, so I'd say YUP.
So, in my opinion, this is a good show to watch if you want low angst and a slow storyline. A story that will let you get to know the characters and to root for them. Now I want a job at a publishing company!

Leia Mais

Good chemistry

Jang Hyuk and Jang Nara had really good chemistry together. I loved how playful they were with each other. I felt that his acting was, unfortunately, over the top a lot of times, and that laugh, ugh! I also either wanted to go at his hair with a pair of clippers or loan him a barrette, his hair was ridiculous. My favorite scene with him was in ep 18 during the press conference. He was understated and you could really see his fear and hope and love shining through in his acting without all the antics. I did NOT like the drugging aspect of the show, and there was an awful long time for them to be apart, after the obligatory three-year separation. When he was pretending to be someone else and they were texting one another, that was very cleverly done, and gave us more opportunity to see them together. I also loved the storyline of him taking the female lead's mom as his mom. Very touching. Choi Jin Hyuk as the second male lead was excellent, and his deep voice...yum. The ending was very cute and you get to see a wedding and what happens in their lives after that, which I always like after spending all this time watching a show

Leia Mais